ABSTRACT
By the 1930s, ‘over sixty per cent of all suits sold in Britain were made and marketed by a handful of Leeds “multiple tailors”’. Contemporaries could hardly be blamed for believing that this would lead to the eventual demise of independent menswear retailers. This chapter explores the impact on retailing practices and identities of such a rapid and fearsome change. It considers the differing opinions expressed within the trade about the place of independent menswear traders in the ‘modern’ commercial environment. As firms competed for market share, ideas concerning the value and qualities of the commodities they sold, as well as about consumer demand, became central to debates over the current and future state of the trade. After examining these ideas, the chapter focuses on other issues that impacted consumer choice. It questions whether tumultuous changes within the menswear trade were mirrored by equal changes in the status of the tailoring trade and of 'tailors'.
